SOLO ADVENTURESS IN MANILA

Halloween Party Dishes

Fried tarantulas taste like chicken crisps – that’s how my taste buds reacted when I first bit into the arachnid treats that Thais peddled on the streets.

For this Halloween, however, I’m opting for black olive spiders crawling over deviled eggs… and yes, burgers draped with cheese squares carved like grinning kitties.

It’s my second time now to attend the Samsung Digital Appliances Cooking Workshop at GalaStars Culinary School, trying out recipes by Chef Ernest Gala.

Oh, but his burger recipe is ultra-versatile too! You can use it to make meat loaf and meat balls if you wish. You can add ground pork, which has more fat, to the beef to make juicier patties, meat balls or meat loaves.

You can also play with the designs on the garnishing – the cheese squares you can fashion into anything, from a ghoul to a skull, or any face you like.

And you can make the edible creepy crawlies from two halves of black olives, with finely-sliced olive strips for the legs.

Better yet, both burgers and deviled eggs are appetizers you can whip up within a few minutes using a Samsung Smart Oven.

HALLOWEEN BURGERS

Slice 4 burger buns horizontally and place romaine lettuce on each.

For the burgers, mix the following in a bowl:

250 Grams (1/4 kilo) Monterey Ground Round Beef

2 tbsp chopped spring onions

1/3 cup Japanese breadcrumbs

2 eggs

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

After mixing the ingredients, form into four balls and flatten them out into patties.

Set Samsung Smart Oven on Microwave+Grill Function. Time four minutes. Press Start. Invert patty and set on Microwave+Grill Function for another four minutes.

Boil six eggs in water for 12 minutes. When eggs are done, put them in ice water for 30 seconds. Gently peel the shell. Cut in half lengthwise using a knife of a French fry cutter. Remove egg yolks. Set aside.

Mix the following ingredients in a bowl or blender:

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp white pepper

2 tsp chopped white onion

1 tbsp pickle relish

1/3 cup mayonnaise

Add egg yolks. Transfer the mixture into a pastry bag with a star tip. Pipe out on 12 egg white shells. Top with meat sauce and black olives cut in the shape of spiders.

For the Meat Sauce, microwave one cup of canned meat sauce in the Samsung Smart Oven.

Cover with wrap. Set on Microwave mode on high and time 2 minutes. Remove wrap.